Hi WLSA Members!
Thank you to all those who attended our Women's Week events. You made it a great success. If you are interested in learning more about National Women's History Month or reading President Obama's 2009 Proclamation please see
http://www.nwhp.org/. Women's Week may be over, but there are still exciting things happening.
Check out this article for an interesting perspective on Sarah Palin and the Objectification of Women.
http://jezebel.com/5164970/which-came-first-the-objectification-of-sarah-palin-or-the-mistrust-in-her-competence?skyline=true&s=i WLSA has started a new
Women of Color Initiative. Faizah Malik is our e-board representative for this initiative. Here are the Initiative's goals:
The Women of Color Initiative under the Michigan Women’s Law Student Association provides a space to support and empower women of color at Michigan Law. WOCI’s mission is to advance the needs of women of color through educational, professional, cultural, and social initiatives, and to serve as a critical resource for the broader law school community. WOCI seeks to achieve these goals through mentorship, education, and activism.
- Mentorship: organizing events to facilitate mentorship, networking, and community-building among women of color at the law school, law school faculty and administration, greater graduate community of color at Michigan, and women of color alums/professionals.
- Education: providing a forum for the discussion of issues affecting women of color by planning talks, panels, and workshops open to the law school and university community.
- Activism: collaborating with affinity groups to increase student of color admissions and faculty of color recruitment, to incorporate critical perspectives into class discussions, to expand course offerings, and to create a network of women of color in the university community.
If you are interested in joining the WOCI committee please email Faizah at
faizahm@umich.edu." Thanks!
On that note, we wanted to alert you to a great upcoming event!
First Annual State of Women of Color Faculty at the University of Michigan Address: Are YOU Ready for the Diagnosis?
Tuesday, March 24, 4:00- 6:00 p.m.
Rackham Amphitheatre, 4th Floor,
915 E. Washington Street
How might we support the University of Michigan’s goal of diversifying its faculty with women of color? The purpose of the First Annual State of Women of Color Faculty at the University of Michigan Address is to incite dialogue within the university community about the state of recruitment, retention, and promotion of women of color faculty across ranks, departments, and units.
Panelists and topics include:
GLORIA THOMAS, Ph.D., Director of the Center for the Education of Women, University of Michigan
[national trends for women of color faculty]
ABBY STEWART, Ph.D., Director of ADVANCE, Sandra Schwartz Tangri Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies, University of Michigan
[overview of ADVANCE initiative and observed/expected outcomes]
AIMEE COX, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of African American and African Studies, Rutgers University
[institutional climate and retention issues facing women of color faculty]
LORI PIERCE, M.D., Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs; Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan
[history of Diversity Blueprints Task Force and status of recommendations]
With a Moderated Discussion by:
B.J. EVANS, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Past Chair of the Committee for a Multicultural University, University of Michigan
The challenges are great, and we hope to contribute solutions. What we know is that there have been some improvements, albeit not as rapidly as we hope. From 1985 to date, women of color at the full professor rank have increased from less than one percent to approximately three percent of the total faculty at this institution. Women of color faculty have increased at a higher rate among the assistant and associate professor ranks, however, across all ethnic minority groups, women of color still comprise only 12% and 10% respectively. We also are concerned about systematic barriers for women of color(particularly at the 3rd year review and tenure stages), both in terms of valuation of their unique and often increased teaching and service contributions, as well as their innovative and often culturally-specific programs of research. In addition, retention of women of color faculty has emerged as a heightened area of concern, with the latest statistics indicating that women of color faculty left the university at a rate of 5 women per year in between 2001 and 2006.
We hope to develop interventions that will lead to the successful recruitment and retention of women of color, as well as improve classroom environments, departmental climates, and service contributions.
The panelists will discuss local and national tenure statistics for women of color faculty, the effectiveness of current diversity initiatives, the impact of the ban on affirmative action policies on institutional climate, and issues of accountability. The brief presentations will then be followed by a moderated discussion. The goal is to provide a forum wherein to discuss areas of concern and promising practices.
This event is sponsored by the Women of Color in the Academy Project (WOCAP). WOCAP is jointly funded by the Center for the Education of Women and Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs.
Registration is highly encouraged and space is limited for this discussion.
Please register online at or by calling 734-764-6005. Please register by: Friday, March 20th.
Dean Baum has brought the following to our attention!
Dear Faculty Members,
I am writing to remind you of the range of services and financial resources available through the University of Michigan's Center for the Education of Women (CEW), with the hopes that you will share this information with others who may find it useful -- especially your students.
With regard to financial resources, we are able to offer UM graduate students and non-traditional undergraduates (older or raising a child) enrolled at the Ann Arbor campus small emergency grants to help with unexpected financial crises, providing the situation meets our criteria. Appointments for counseling, including possible assistance with student financial emergencies, can be arranged by calling 764-6360.
Additionally, we have an annual scholarship program for returning students (those with a four year interruption in their education) -- see our website (
www.cew.umich.edu/students/scholar.htm) for more details.
CEW's free career and educational counseling is available to students, faculty, staff, and community members - both men and women are welcome.
Our counselors assist students with a range of issues, from applying to graduate school, balancing studies/work/family, to career decision-making, to researching financial aid/scholarship options. We also assist people undergoing various life transitions, career planning, working to attain tenure, job-changing, job searching, etc.
In addition to our counseling, we also offer an extensive schedule of workshops, lectures, and research symposia each semester, as well as modest student research grants for students' independent research.
Finally, our library (open to the public) is not to be missed, and focuses on education, employment and careers, leadership, and women's growth and development (
http://opac.libraryworld.com/cgi-bin/opac.pl?command=signin&libraryname=cew).
Please visit our website at
www.cew.umich.edu for more information on our services, as well as the research and advocacy aspects of our mission.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Elling
--
Kirsten A. Elling, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Counseling, Programs & Services
Center for the Education of Women
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2289
e-mail:
kelling@umich.edu phone: 734.764.6360 fax: 734-998-6203
www.cew.umich.eduAs always, WLSA breakfasts continue on Thursday mornings.
Thanks!
